Golf-green cup



June 26, 1928.

' E. J. BLOOM GOLF GREEN CUP 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 1, 1927 lNVENTOR ATT RNEYS June 26, 1928. 1,675,089

E. J. BLOOM GOLF GREEN CUP Filed Nov. 1, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Patented June 26, 1928.

UNITED ES EDGAR J; BLooM,

or TIFFIN, oHIo.

I eons-Galina can Application filed November 1327. Serial No. 230,271.

This invention relates to golf green cups and more specifically to improvements in the construction of golf cups orliners of the type adapted to support the staff of a slgnal flag or marker. i

It is customary, in a golf course, to employ a liner or cup for the hole in the putting green. These cups are provided to support the earth forming the side walls of the hole and are frequently constructed with some means for supporting the signal flag or marker shaft, which ordinarily, is rem'cvably retained by a member rigidly associated with the cup. r 7

In the average golf course itis the practice to change the location of the cup or liner when the sod adjacent the mouth opening becomes worn and it is, therefore, important that a golf cup be constructed so that it may be readily inserted into and removed from a cylindrical hole, in the green, without the use of any special equipment and without material injury to the earth surrounding the hole. I p I Itis also important that the cup or hole liner be so constructed as to assure ltS ef fective anchorage in the earth any movement of the cup initiated through the vibration of the flag or signal shaftwillcause the i lair tothat' shownin Figure 1 but illustratearth to be dislodged, the cylindrical form of a hole to be distorted and the walls of the hole deformed so that they will be rendered incapable of being refilled with earth in a satisfactory manner.

structures heretofore constructed the advan tage of having the cup rigidly anchored'in the ground has been lost sight of except per- 'haps in that type of cap which is provided I with a feed screw or spiral rorined'at the bottom of the cup. In this type of cup,

however, there resides the disadvantage of maintaining the vertical alignment of the cup when it is inserted into the earth and also the impracticability' of refilling the hole after a cup of this type is removed therefrom. It has been the uniform practice to su port the'sig'nal flag 0r marker by a plate or web which is disposed transverse the 'medial axis of the cup either at its bottomor intermediate it ends. This member isnsually ape'rtured to receive the shaft or is formed with an extended boss having an opening therein to receive one end of'the marker shaft. In the exercise of this Pracbecomes distorted and permits the cup to be In the golf cup and signal supporting tice the strainimposed by the wind pressure against the flag is transmitted to the side walls of the cup and in turn is borne by the earth surrounding the cup which frequently 1 loosened in the hole. Y

In the practice of my inventionIhave provided a signal supporting member associated with the cup, the supporting member, however, being formed with awco axial anchor post which is of proper form and proportionto" provide per se a support for the marker. 1111 addition, I have constructed a golf cup so "that it maybe readily inserted into the hole or removed therefrom without causing the earth to be dislodge'd'or without necessitating the use of special tools or'any particular dexterity of the attendant changing or repositioning the golf green cup. V

1 In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical section of a golf green .cup embodying my invention, the cup being shown in place-in a golf greenv hole: Figure2 is a plan view of the cup ill-us trated in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken one plane indicated by the line3-3in Figure 1, Figure 4 is a vertical section of a cup simi ing a structural modification, Figure 5is a transverse section taken on the plane indicated by the line 5 5 in Figare 41-, .7

Figure 6 is a plan view of an alternate form 'ofa golf ball ret'ainingplate, Figure 7 is vertical section of illustrating a modified form of anchor post.

Fig-are 8 is a vertical section of a cup illustratingan'alternatetype of anchor post and the support therefor; f i i v Referring to the-drawing the :golf'cup iiiasti ated in Figures 1,2an-d 4-, comprises a cylindrical'tube section or "golf hole liner 10 having a spider 11 formed within the cup intermediate its ends and preferably disposed slightly below the center ofthe cup.

the cup Thes'pid'er 11, in the presentembodiment is formed with acentral hub section 12, the

upper portion of which is recessedat 13Q toan aligned dependingb'ossjwhich terminates with a. diverging s ike or anchor' post 15.

As illustrated the spike 15 is cruciform in transverse section being formed with diver"- gent flanges or ribswhich are pyramidically terminated. i

The hub 12 is joined to the cylindrical tube section by a plurality of webs 16, the upper edges 17 of which lie in a common plane at right angles to the medial axis of the hub 12. WVithin the cup 10 there is a disc 18 which is provided toyretain' the golf balls played into the cup, one of which is indicated herein by the dotted circle 19. The disc 18 is constructed with an axial boss '20 extending from its opposite faces and each boss is formedwith. a beaded outer edge 21 to attorda finger grip for the removal of the disc. The disc 18 is supported upon the outer edges 16 of the webs 16 an is centralized within the cup. by the engagement of a yertically disposed pilot boss 22, formed in the hub 12, and an aperture 23 which extends through theboss 2 0 and disc I 18. The upper faces of the webs 16 are rounded in order topreclude the adhesion \ofextraneous matter between the disc 18 and ptl'iese bearing surfaces. formedwith notches 2 .1, adjacent the pilot The webs 16 are 'boss 22, the width and depth of these notches being suitably proportioned to afford a clearance for i the depending boss 20.

' "The recess 13, or signal flag socket, is preferably extended toa depth substantially equal to one-half the total length of the hub and spike sectionsl12 and 15. respectively, and the -mo uth 25 ofthe hub is chamfered to facilitate insertion of the shaft of the flag. Y

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5, the embodiment herein illustrated, comprises a structuresimilarto that shown in Figure portion of the .but formed otseparate cup and signal supporting units :in order to accommodate manufacturing practices. The spider 26 in this embodiment is secured to the cup 27 'by rivets 28, or other suitable means,which unite the walls of the cup 27 with flanges 29 formed in the terminating ends of the webs 30. The upper edges of these webs are formed with rounded ribs 30 which lie in a. common plane and support a golf ball retaining disc 31. The websv 30 are reinforced near their upper edges byf-transversely disposed flanges "32 1 integrally formed with the spider 26, the web's30 and the flanges 29. The disc in theinstanticase is constructed with a single boss 33, which is vertically disposed with the upper face or the disc, and is adapted to be centralized .within the cup by engagement of the boss 34 ;wit-h, a concentric opening 35 in the boss33.

As shown in Figure 6, a modified form of discis illustrated which comprises an annular plate centrally apertured at 36 and provided with perforations 37 which serve as a finger cup to facilitate the removal of theplate from the cup 27;

' In both forms of my invention, the'disc 18..is. sup orted on the relatively narrow edges of the web of the spider and is positioned by the concentric hub bearing. This arrangement facilitates the removal of ex traneous matter between the disc and the fiangeswhich maybe accomplished by twisting or oscillating the plate upon its seat about the central pilot bearingQ. a

In Figure 7 I have illustrated an anchor post inwhich the webs 16 are extended and merge with the divergent flanges or ribs .ot the anchor post or spike 15. V

The anchor post shown in Figure 8 C0111- prises a separable shaft 40 preferably made become bell-mouthed or. the unsupported earth :will crumble away from the edge of the hole causing apledge to be formed between the earth and the top edge of the cup hpOnwhich the golf'ballmay be deflected.

Under these conditions a well played ball maybe arrested in its course or it the hole has become bell-mouthed a ball less accurately played may roll into the cup when in fact the fortuitous holei. should not be credited to the player.

In the practice of my invention, Thave found the initial position of the cup in the earth may be maintainedeven though the structure has been subjected to the radial thrusts initiated by the wind pressure against the signal flag or target. The rigidity of the earth surrounding the cup and the stability of the structure when positioned is efi'ectuated by theallocation of the spider relative to the vertical axis of the cup and by the proportionot the length of the spike or anchor post 15 and thelength of the cup. i

As will beseen in Figure 4 when a holeA' is cut in the sod of a golf green incident the positioning of the structure, the cylindrical tube section of the cup may be inserted in the hole approximately onethird of its length before the end of the spike 15 will come into contact with the floor or bottom of the hole A. By virtue of the pilot bearing thus afforded the axial alignment of the cup will be retained upon further insertion of the structure withinthe hole eventhougb some light extraneous matter in the earth, should tend to deflect the course of the spike as it was forced into position.

WVhen the cup is seated, as illustrated in Figure 1, and the flag is in place, the radial thrusts imposed by the Whipping of the flag in the Wind, will be borne by the hub and resisted by earth surrounding the vertical a the hole may be preserved in the form most advantageous to the success of the game.

Although the foregoing description is necessarily of detailed character, in order that the invention may be completely set forth, it is to be understood that the specific terminology is not intended to be restrictive or confining and that the various re-arrangements of parts and modifications of structural detail may be resorted to without de parting from the spirit or scope of the invention as herein claimed.

I claim:

1. A golf green cup comprising a tubular body, a signal supporting section united therewith and a separable golf ball retaining plate, said signal supporting section having an anchor post the major portion of which extends beyond one end of the cup.

2. A golf green cup comprising a tubular body having a spider disposed within the said body intermediately its ends, said spider formed With a plurality of Webs rigidlyconnected to the inner Wall of said tubular body and radiating from an apertured hub portion, a golf ball retaining plate, and an anchor post integral With said hub portion" v and extending beyond said tubularportiom 3. A golf cup comprising a tubular body, a spider axially disposed therein having a centrally apertured hub section, a plurality f of Webs radiating therefrom and connecting said hub andthe inner Wall ofsaid tubular body, a separable golf ball retaining plate having centrally disposed apertured bosses extending from its opposite faces, grooves in the upper face of said Webs to admit the said boss of the ball retaining plate, and an anchor post extending from, one, end of the tubular body section.

4. A golf green cup comprising a tubular body, a spider axially disposed therein and united thereto, said spider having a centrally apertured hub portion formed With oppositely extended bosses one of which is adapted to position a golf ball retaining plate, the other formed With a. plurality of vdivergent ribs extended beyond the'cup.

5. A golf cup comprising a tubular body,

a spider axiallydisposed therein having a centrally apertured hub section, a plurality of Webs radiating therefrom and connecting said hub and the inner \vallof said tubular body, a removable golf ball retainingplate having centrally disposed apertured bosses extending from its opposite faces each of said bosses being grooved adjacent its ends, grooves in the upper face of said Webs to admit the said boss of the ball retaining plate and an anchor post extending from one end of the tubular body, section. V

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature this 29thday of October, 1927. EDGAR JQBLOOM; 

